Thursday Feature: Reviews & Interviews - Wubbers Review

I've had enough time with my Wubbers now to feel comfortable giving a product review.

First of all, Wubbers are pliers that are made by Euro Tools and hand finished to reduce marring on the relatively soft metals used in jewelry making. Wubbers is a word created from the initials of "Wired Up Beads", which is a company that is now a division of Wubbers. L.L.C.

The catchphrase Wubbers uses is “Made to Make Jewelry™” and I would have to agree.They have been engineered for comfort and balance. The joint of the pliers moves very smoothly and the grips are a cushioned foam that is quite comfortable during extended use. More about the designer of Wubbers and other information can be found at the Wubbers website.

I was given some Wubbers for review purposes by Blue Buddha Boutique with their recommendation for use in chainmaille construction. I can see why Blue Buddha would recommend them - the constant gripping and twisting of jumprings to construct even a small bit of maille can be very wearing on one's hands, but using Wubbers reduces the strain. When I first got the Wubbers I noticed a distinct odor from the grips, almost like artificial cherry flavored candy smells, but it's dissipated with continual use.

Additionally, the surface of the tool which touches the wire or jumprings is just matte enough to grip but smooth enough not to leave gouges. I've now made several items with a lot of jumpring manipulation, including a couple of charm bracelet chains, that I can truly tell the difference when I'm using Wubbers versus other tools - no tool marks or shiny spots on colored wire or jumprings. The one exception has been copper - I can't seem to eliminate all scratches or nicks on copper, especially patinaed headpins or wire. Even so, the depth and amount has been significantly reduced. Perhaps it's just me not being cautious enough.

I have Classic Wubbers (flat nose: 6.5 inches long, with a 7/8" jaw) and Baby Wubbers (flat nose: 5 inches long, with a 3/4" jaw). I prefer the Baby size as I have fairly small hands, but the leverage of the larger size may be more helpful with larger gauge wire. I haven't really tested that since the wire I use is 20 to 26 gauge. When working with pieces that have very small spaces for manipulating a wrap, like a fine gauge wrapped loop fitted tightly against a bead, the Baby size is easier for me to use.

Unless I'm clumsy, or the finish on the rings is particularly delicate, I've had great results as far as tool marks or scratches go. I think that for some finishes nothing is going to help eliminate the occasional nick or flake, but the Wubbers keep that to a minimum compared to other tools I've used, and most of my tools are Euro Tools, so it's not as if I'm not using pretty good ones, although I'd like to try Wubbers against Lindstroms one of these days.

You can purchase Wubbers at Blue Buddha Boutique and other jewelry making suppliers.

FTC compliance disclosure, notice of material connections: Two pair of Wubbers were provided as promotional gifts for review purposes by Blue Buddha Boutique.

Mid-Week Mutterings - Wubbers Tools

Wubbers. Got two pair with the gift certificate I won in the Rings & Things June/July Review a Product contest last month. I love the handles, they're very cushy, the length and shape of them is also quite comfortable.

I haven't used them enough yet to say how well they do - the primary selling point of Wubbers is the hand finishing to prevent marring of wire or jump rings. I am particularly interested in seeing how they do with colored wire, as nicks in that tend to reveal the color of the base wire beneath the finish. I have a flat nosed pair - something I've been doing without so far, but have wanted, and a bent nose pair.

Once I've used them for awhile, I'll talk more about them and how well they do. If you've used Wubbers, feel free to comment about them here!

I'm glad it's Wednesday - just a couple days to go before the long weekend! Come back tomorrow for a review of a very special book by one of my favorite people in the Beadosphere.

Now With New and Improved Loopiness!

I have been practicing making wire loops using with 20 gauge copper wire. It's pretty flexible wire and the gauge is small enough to go through the beads but large enough to be easy to see. I'm using glass beads from a bag of 'assorted glass beads @ some very cheap price per strand' - most of them are junk, but there are some pretty cool ones in the mix. The chain of beads I've made so far is surprisingly pretty for the quality of the materials

I've figured out a few things that are really helping me make neat, round and consistent loops. The how to guides I've read haven't suggested all these these things, but I'm happy to share.

#1 Mark the round nose pliers so you make the loop at the same spot each time. This gives uniform sized loops. I painted the bottom of the pliers up to the point where I want to bend the wire for the loop with some bright pink nail polish I had sitting on my desk.

#2 Before you start the full bend around the pliers, just using the very tip I make a small bend - this way I don't end up with a flat bit in the loop - they're turning out very round.

#3 Measuring to cut the wire for the second loop - this has been a challenge. I used a steel mm calibrated ruler for a while but I've pretty much figured out how to eyeball it using the width of my left index finger. I guess I could put a little mark on my finger with a Sharpie to be even more precise...

#4 I'm using my nylon nosed pliers to bend the loops when connecting them together and avoid tool marks. I bend the loop up from a completed circle, add the loop on the next bead and then bend the open loop down to close it - keeps the nice circle I've created from getting flat or otherwise distorted.

Here's my little practice set up:

And here's a close-up of the most recent loops:

Later this afternoon some of my family from the L.A. area are coming into town to see my nephew play football against our local university team, so this may be all the beading I get to today.

Where Did It Go?

I've misplaced my favorite screwdriver. This is a bigger deal than it might seem at first. I use "Scrimps" instead of the usual crimp tube or bead at the ends of my necklace lanyards. The Scrimp has a tiny screw in it to clamp down the stringing material (usually Beadalon 19 strand satin bead stringing wire). Scrimp kits contain a mini-screwdriver, but they're short and it's hard to get a good grasp and good torque with them, especially if the screw is a bit stuck - I've ended up with a still stuck screw and a completely deformed screwdriver tip. I've sliced my finger a time or two with them, as well.

So last fall I was in Dallas at a conference and needed to tighten the Scrimp on a lanyard I was wearing and didn't have one of those screwdrivers handy and thought that maybe an eyeglass repair kit would have one that would work. I went to the hotel sundries shop and, sure enough, they had a nice kit with a wonderful screwdriver - the tip was just the right size at the tip and it was longer in length (I think about 4" long in all) with a plastic handle that gave me a good grip. I've tried to take very good care of it and always put it back where it belongs when I'm done with it so I won't lose it.

Well, today I have 5 necklace lanyards that need hardware and was at the point where I was ready to apply a Scrimp to the first one when I looked around for my screwdriver and couldn't find it. I've pretty much combed every inch of my office now to no avail. So I'm back to using the smaller one that came with the Scrimps and not enjoying it one bit.

Here's my latest necklace lanyard, 30" long, made with frosted colorless glass Czech beads, very tiny, copper colored, glass seed beads, two sizes of lightly satin-brushed copper oval beads and copper bead caps. I apologize for the poor picture quality - I'm definitely going to need natural light and experiment with the background color, to do this one justice.

The picture above shows it draped as a necklace. Below is where I show it with a badge to give you an idea about the way I maintain the pattern idea, but make it just a bit more interesting, (at least to me) at the ends.

You may also have noticed that the lanyard attachment isn't a large lobster claw, like on my silver and gold designs, because I hadn't been able to find the large ones in copper. Until recently! In my post a few days ago about vintage -style designs, I mentioned Accessories Susan, and while she didn't have them posted, I emailed her about the possibility of getting some, and she said she'd order them! I am obsessively checking her 'new arrivals' list for them.

I know I said I'd post the shell lanyard today, but since it's still unfinished, and I'm pouting about my screwdriver, it's not going up tonight.